“We set up our business plan 20 years ago, and we’ve been steadily working our way through it,” says David Matthews, joint md. Winning the awards was, for him, the icing on the cake. “It was a confirmation to ourselves, our staff and our customers that what we’re doing, this mission we’ve been on for 20 years, is actually working.”
David says he did not expect to win the wholesaler award, and was left even more gobsmacked to have walked away with the top title as well. Where the BFS team ended up celebrating is perhaps best left under wraps, however.
The key to the company’s success is simple, says Nick Matthews, marketing manager. “Everything we do has the interests of our customers in mind and we have an inherent culture of simply caring about everything we do.”
There is no escaping the fact that wholesale is a tough sector, yet BFS continues to grow and put in an outstanding performance year-on-year. With that in mind, it is no surprise to learn that many of its actions reflect that of the retail sector, something particularly evident in the company’s work to establish closer links to its supply base.
“We’ve shortened the supply chain,” says David. “They call it category management now, but didn’t know that back then, we just selected the suppliers we wanted to deal directly with.”
Rather than sourcing through importers, the company now deals direct with the producers themselves and Nick estimates it now sources around 90 per cent of its mainstream range direct from suppliers.
David says: “It’s all about getting the best produce possible, we’ve even parted company with people over issues like that.”
The move to shorten the supply chain has had other benefits as well, says Nick: “We’ve got much better personal relationships now. They’ve got to know our business so they can fulfil our needs better.”
As a result of its policy, BFS now has a much smaller and reliable supply base, again a path already blazed by the likes of Asda and Tesco.
However, David says: “I can’t see us going quite as far down the route Asda has gone, but if our existing suppliers can add to their range, then we’re interested. The likes of Tesco are successful, so it’s not that surprising that we’re mirroring them.”
However, Nick is keen to point out a significant difference between the two: “We may be mirroring them, but we’re doing it with different aims. The multiples are looking to satisfy the shareholders, whereas our aim is all about providing better service for our customers.”
Like any successful company, a key driver for that success is the willingness to invest and push the business forward, and BFS is certainly not afraid to put its hand in its pocket.
“Investment is something that sets us apart from most people in the industry,” says David. “We’ve consistently invested over the years, in people and equipment. Even now, we’ve got several new vehicles on order to replace older ones. We’ve got BRC Higher Level accreditation across the business and those are the standards we expect. It’s not been easy, but you’ve got to keep raising that bar.”
Nick says the willingness to invest is important from the perspective of both staff and customers. “If staff can see we’re investing, then we get more from them and it gives our customers confidence in us as well.”
A significant investment has been made into refrigeration and handling facilities at the Bristol market, with a multi-temperature regime installed. “We’re one of the only companies in the market who can hold stock at the temperature it says on the box,” he says.
BFS has three temperature controlled storage rooms, one at 4°C, one at 8°C and one at 16°C. A sophisticated monitoring system, called ICE Spy, ensures the rooms maintain their temperature, and any deviance sounds an alarm, which will ring a member of staff’s mobile phone.
Nick says: “The worst thing for any product is to chop and change its temperature. Our suppliers take great care to ensure the product gets to us in the right condition so it’s up to us to do our best to maintain that.”
That includes investing in a cool chain throughout the business, and the company has a fleet of refrigerated trucks. “There’s no point driving 500 miles and finding that the produce is cooked by the time it gets to the customer,” he adds.
Another significant development was the introduction of hand held terminals into the business. Now a more common sight on market trading floors throughout the UK, Nick says BFS was one of the first companies to go for the system. “They’ve made a big difference, really speeded thing up and made us more efficient. Orders are processed faster. Before we had them, staff had to start at 3am, now they start at 4am. They spend less time waiting for the admin staff to catch up.”
It is not just equipment the company is prepared to invest in either. Skills are a key issue for the business and BFS teamed up with the University of the West of England to develop a tailor-made training programme.
The year-long tie up with UWE saw the management team tasked with looking into ways the company could improve. The scheme has brought a number of benefits to the business, particularly communication, with regular manager and branch meetings now taking place to improve information flow.
The company’s dedication to its staff is reflected in its turnover, particularly among the senior team. David says: “We’ve got a strong management team who’ve been with us for 20 years or more. The university said it was amazed at the amount of time we’d had senior staff with us for. I think it boils down to our culture of investment.”
Recruitment is always a challenge for any sector, and particularly wholesale - after all, not many young people are keen to start work at one in the morning. However, BFS is determined to maintain standards. David says: “What we try and do is not lower our standards. It’s easy to take the soft option and take the first bloke you see.”
Steve Payne, company director adds: “The idea is, when we interview people for a job, we don’t look it as just a job, we look at it as a future. We won’t just take anybody on, and I would say our staff turnover has been much better in the last few years.”
Another key factor in the company’s success has been down to its emphasis on brands says Payne. “We specialise in certain brands, and that’s important for us.” A number of the brands are exclusive to BFS in that sector, he says, and that gives them an edge over the competition.
Nick says it is a further confirmation of quality for the customers. “We do a lot of business over the phone and if someone rings up and asks if we have any Cape grannies in, we say yes and that’s as far as the conversation goes. If you say, no, we’ve got brand X, then the first thing they will ask is whether it’s cheaper.”
Dealing with established brands means the customers know what they are going to get and price is no longer the major consideration, Nick says.
And it is not just the big brands either, he adds: “We’ve got a tomato grower in Cheshire who used to supply Tesco. He’s decided to opt out of the retail sector and move back into wholesale. I think a lot more suppliers are now beginning to recognise that we’re a viable alternative to the retail sector.”
Payne agrees: “We’re finding more and more quality growers want to get involved with BFS. They’re recognising it is not just supermarkets that can provide a good outlet.”
Indeed, David says suppliers are being forced to realise that wholesale is no longer the dumping ground for supermarket rejects.
“We made a conscious decision to drop the name wholesale from the business because I don’t think it describes what we do any more. It has unfortunate connotations these days, when you say you’re a wholesaler, people think, oh you want the retailer rejects and we’re definitely not that type of business.
“That’s the way we’ve been all the way through, and I know I’m repeating myself, have been repeating it for 30 years now. We want good produce, we want it on a regular basis and on the days we want it.”
Catering has become a greater and greater part of the business focus, and to respond to this BFS Direct has been established to cater for those customers needs.
Nick says they recognised the need to segment the business to ensure that the correct focus was given to each sector. “We recognised the needs for differing skills within different areas of our business.”
However, while catering is a key sector, the company is not turning its back on the retail sector either. “We’ve got to support them,” says David simply.
BFS carries out promotions to help boost the retail sector, carrying out tasting sessions on certain products, both at the market and in the retailers stores. The business recently held demonstrations for an Outspan juicing machine, which David says would work very well in the retail sector.
“We try to get involved with our customers, we want to help them grow their market, whatever sector they’re in,” he says.
To meet those needs, the company now has four sites; two of which are the Bristol market operation and a similar business in Cardiff market. Supplementing this are two dedicated BFS Direct operations, one in Bodmin, Cornwall, and the other, more recently opened, in Paignton, Devon.
Bristol acts as the hub for all operations, says Nick: “Full trucks are delivered into Bristol and then spread out amongst our branches using our internal distribution network.”
He says the geographical spread of the business means it is ideally placed to supply the needs of the catering sector throughout the south west. “We’re able to respond much faster than any of the national companies.”
The company also has a successful banana ripening operation, which focuses mainly on the multiple sector. However, the extra arm of the business also gives it an edge on the wholesale sector, says Nick. “Not many wholesalers have the facilities to ripen bananas, and we can ripen fruit to peoples’ demands. It’s an effective selling tool.”
David says BFS has benefited from the fact Bristol market has been a privately run operation since it first opened in the 1970s. “In other markets there’s a local authority culture, rather than taking action themselves, there’s an attitude of wait for someone to do it for you.
“This has always been a private market, the cavalry isn’t coming for us, so we’ve had to do it ourselves. We haven’t had that historical curse, which is a benefit.”
Winning the Re:fresh Awards has proved to be a further shot in the arm for a business which is already at the top of its game.
Payne says: “Following the awards, we’ve been getting calls from suppliers around the world who are keen to start doing business with us.”
The company has been quick to shout about its success, with letterheads now all carrying the news and the company’s fleet is being rebranded to reflect BFS’s win. The company website is also being redesigned to carry the logo.
Nick says: “The great thing is that straightaway the staff were thinking of ways in which we could move the business forward so that we can retain the award for next year as well.”
The awards themselves are now due to be sent on a tour of the businesses sites, giving all staff a chance to see them and share in BFS’s success.
As for the future, the company remains very positive: “We’re bullish about the future,” says David. “Without talking figures we’re already well in front of last years performance and we’re just at the halfway point. And I can’t see us stopping.
“The cake isn’t getting any bigger but those companies that are investing and providing what their customers want are doing well, it’s not rocket science. We’ve identified areas we need to be in the future and we need to provide whatever type of service you want.”
David says it simply boils down to making sure you focus on providing the best possible service: “As Clive Woodward said, it’s all about the method not the result. Get the method right then the results will come.”
THE BOOST OF BODMIN
BFS has gone through dramatic growth in the last 20 years. In the late 1980s, it ventured out to Cornwall, opening up a small operation in Bodmin.
“When I look back, we basically rented a cow shed on a farm,” says David Matthews. These days the facilities are somewhat more sophisticated. “We’ve got beautiful premises down there now.” And he’s not kidding, the company has won Bodmin in Bloom awards for its floral surroundings alone.
The building itself was purpose built for BFS and is unique, says depot manager, Martin Baldry: “The warehouse is fully insulated so that it maintains a steady temperatures of between 12°C and 14°C all year round.
The Bodmin operation falls under the banner of BFS Direct and while it supplies both retailers and catering operations, Baldry says the foodservice side of the business is growing year-on-year.
“The split of the business is fast approaching 50:50, but in actual fact, a lot of the retailers we’re supplying are then going onto supply catering outlets themselves.”
The bulk of the business takes place during the summer months, he says: “During that time, in Cornwall, we go from a population of one million people to around three or four million.”
Phase two of the Eden Project is also in the pipeline, and he says that could bring further tourism business, outside of the peak summer months.
The company offers a comprehensive range, says Baldry. “We have a range of around 300 products, but we’re also stocking products that you wouldn’t normally get in this neck of the woods. We source a lot of stuff from Rungis in Paris, there’s good demand for it here.”
The company has also introduced a 24-hour ordering service, with a member of staff manning the phones throughout the night. “People want to speak to someone not a recording, so we have someone working on the phones.”
